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Danes unbottle doubts over plastic
waste targets
Environment Daily 1258, 16/07/02
A report by Denmark's environmental protection agency (EPA) concludes
that
there are no environmental benefits in collecting disposable plastic
bottles
and other plastic containers, and that the costs of recycling
them are
unacceptably high. The findings appear to confirm the results
of similar
studies in other European countries.
The German environment agency reported earlier this month that
small
lightweight packaging items might as well be incinerated as recycled
on
environmental grounds (ED 02/07/02). This spring Austria's environment
agency released similar findings (ED 09/03/02).
According to the Danish EPA, even a "pared-down" collection
system involving
delivery to recycling centres and export for recycling - which
would be
cheaper than recycling in Denmark - would cost about DKr300 (?40)
per tonne
more than simply incinerating the material for use as energy.
The EPA is concerned that the higher recycling targets recently
proposed by
the European Commission in proposed changes to the EU packaging
waste
directive could force Denmark to pursue the recycling option "even
if
environmentally this is not a good idea".
The current minimum recycling level for all packaging materials
under the
1994 packaging directive is 15%, but last December the Commission
proposed
raising this to 20% for plastic packaging from 2006. The other
EU
institutions are currently scrutinising the Commission's proposals.
In a
common position reached in June, EU governments agreed to raise
the
recycling target for plastic packaging to 22.5% (ED 26/06/02).
Danish EPA spokesman Helge Andreasen told Jyllands-Posten newspaper
yesterday that one absurd consequence of enforcing the new targets
at all
costs could be that soft drinks, most of which are currently produced
in
returnable bottles, would in future be sold in disposable bottles
instead.
Follow-up: Danish EPA, tel: +45 32 66 01 00, and the report;
Jyllands-Posten, tel: +45 87 38 39 70, and the article. Article
Index: waste, packaging
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